Smithsonian Magazine’s 2014 Photo Contest Finalists

The Smithsonian have announced the finalists in their excellent annual competition and there are some truly stunning shots in there. The images have come from all over the world and include shots taken with mobile phones to reflect the changing we enjoy photography these days.

FINALIST: Altered Images | Photograph by Ben Coffman. A stream wanders in an oxbow shape near Liberty Bell Mountain in North Cascades National Park. Coffman says he used multiple exposures “to capture the full dynamic range of the scene. (North Cascades National Park, Oregon, United States, August 2014, Digital Camera)

FINALIST: Americana | Photography by Libby Zhang. Sunset casts light on a wheat field in Steptoe Butte State Park, Washington. “I took hundreds of shots of the wheat dancing in the wind from different angles with different exposures. My fingers just kept on clicking until it was dark,” says Zhang. (Steptoe Butte State Park, Washington, June 2014, Canon EOS 6D)

FINALIST: Natural World | Photograph by Ray Collins. Light refracts through the curves of a breaking wave. (New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, July 2014, Nikon D4)